Seneos smiled a bit awkwardly at the man who was sitting across from him inside the limousine he had been stuffed into. He hadn't even been given a chance to say anything.
They simply guided him to the limousine and got angry at him when he started talking to the man named Gumiho instead of entering the vehicle.
Now Sen found himself looking outside the window, watching as the car passed by a great number of buildings. They were obviously going to the KHG's Headquarters so Sen didn't discover anything on the way. This was just the same horizon he saw many times, the same picture being depicted. Oddly enough he never really learned to dislike it like so many others. He felt much more at home here than in dungeons, and perhaps he was the only one to feel like this.
However, the building had a strange look to it. Contrarily to the others, it was all white with glowing blue lights all over it. It gave it a futuristic look that was most likely what the leaders of the organization had been going for. It made it look much more intidimating. As though the guild was more advanced than anyone else, and was just that superior.
For all Seneos knew, it could have been the case. Once again, he knew barely anything about the world he lived in. He only needed to know a good place to drink and where his next missions were, but he guessed he would need to learn a lot more now.
Bits of what had happened after he escaped the dungeon came back to him. He remembered what the voice said, only barely though. He knew it had told him that he now possessed the dungeon he had just fled from. He couldn't make sense of that, but he knew he wasn't crazy.
He thought about it once more as he sat in the limousine, avoiding the unnerving gaze of the pinstripe suit wearing man. It wasn't helping that this gaze was supposed to be stealthy as the man played on his phone.
' I have seen many teams finish dungeons before and I have finished some myself. There is always a voice at the end, telling you that you won. It congratulates you and then you don't hear it anymore. It always sounds a bit feminine, but I can't remember what that voice sounded like....Could it be that it was the same voice? Was it talking about a reward? But I didn't finish this dungeon.....' Seneos couldn't help but focus on that brief memory he had.
That was because he knew something, something that made him doubt. The secret boss of the dungeon hadn't been killed, yet Seneos remembered that it had been sucked away by a barrier. That very barrier had also sucked in the other members of the team, he remembered that clearly.
' I can figure that out on my own though....This barrier affected both the hunters and the secret boss...I guess the dungeon counted the secret boss as defeated once it went through the barrier...But the healer girl was alive. Perhaps she would've heard the voice too but she died too soon? Then again I would've heard about it if people owned the dungeons they cleared on their own. Even with my limited knowledge, I am aware that many hunters of exceptional talent cleared dungeons alone. The more dangerous the dungeon, the better the rewards. How could the reward be something like that when hunters cleared S rank dungeons on their own and yet didn't receive anything similar?' Sen pondered over his questions once more.
He thought briefly about the fact that the information could've been manipulated. Perhaps those hunters really did get dungeons as their rewards. But once again, he shrugged away that suggestion. Out of all the hunters who cleared dungeons on their own, many of them would be immensely arrogant. They would brag about it until everyone in Korea had heard of it. Hunters of the highest order were like that according to Jeol.
As she was brought up in his chain of thoughts, Sen decided to ask about her.
"Excuse me, M-Mister Gumiho ?" Seneos asked, trying his best to sound respectful. His attempt was subpar at best, but Gumiho didn't say anything about it. Only the driver laughed. It seemed like the word Mister was difficult for Seneos to mouth, he wasn't exactly the man to go for when you were looking for respect.
'Damn driver! I ain't used to speaking like that to people other than Jeol's colleagues or the rare people I respect. I sure as hell ain't gonna call you mister, you can count on that.' Seneos thought, childlike annoyance filling him.
Seeing Sen glaring at his driver, Gumiho chuckled before coughing in his hands to regain the attention of the younger male.
"Yes, what is it? Perhaps you have some questions you want answers to? " Gumiho asked with that same devilish smile plastered on his face. He was one colorful and eccentric officiate, that was sure.
Seneos shifted a bit on his side but tried to retain a calm expression. He didn't like looking weak in front of strangers.
"I wanted to know about Jeol. You mentioned her getting interviewed for a promotion and how you were the one conducting the interview."
Gumiho paused for a second and finally stopped playing on his phone. He put the phone covered in glitters away, and his smile widened up to his ears if that was even humanly possible.
"Why yes, in fact, she actually got that promotion. She became an officiate like me. Though contrarily to me, she will not become a full-time inspector. Officiates can change roles at any time, but I am a bit of a special case you see. Normally she should be some sort of assistant that deals with the relationships that the guild has with all the clans of Korea as well as the lone hunters, the ones like you. She was apparently always an amazing element, though her superiors disliked how she refused to get close to anyone at the headquarters. Her answer when I asked her why that was....That answer was simply hilarious. " Gumiho started to stifle his laugh, however, he couldn't contain it.
Seneos waited for the man to calm down, as he actually wanted to hear what that answer was. He was already expecting something outrageous given that this was his best friend they were talking about, the infamous cold Jeol-Jong.
"She looked at me, dead in the eyes, and then....She said, and I am not putting words in her mouth, ' I have no wish to mingle with those people. I consider myself flawed already and they still disgust me with how sinful they can be. If I am to approach my colleagues, I want them to be serious people and not buffoons who think with what's between their legs and their burning desire to watch the world crumble while they drown in riches.' Man, I don't know who she is, since I rarely ever visit the headquarters, but she is one hell of a girl." Gumiho recounted Jeol's word and even did a feminine voice.
What scared Seneos the most was how it perfectly matched Jeol's own voice.
" I....I see. I excepted her to say something like that. Jeol never really liked people." Seneos explained. That explanation of his apparently caught the eccentric man's attention who immediately rushed forward to stare into the F rank hunter's eyes.
"Oh really? And neither do you, I suppose? You easily got annoyed at my driver and you are also easily repulsed with the very idea of small talk. It seems to me like everything you say to people has to have a purpose, or else you don't want to speak at all." Gumiho guessed and it seemed like he hit the jackpot instantly. Seneos turned his head, his cheeks flashing red a bit as though he had been caught like a teenager drinking soju late at night in his room and having his parents walk in on him.
"I....I don't like talking to people, just like her. But my reasons are different. She easily dislikes people because she has her own code and according to it, most people on earth are pretty disgusting. For me...Well, I will most likely kill myself rather than tell that to a stranger. I don't have much in my life, but privacy is something I value." Seneos tried to put some venom in his voice, but it barely affected Gumiho. The man just stood like a scarecrow, posted in front of the low rank Hunter who was starting to feel a bit lost.
After he felt like he had observed Seneos enough, Gumiho moved back to his seat and crossed his legs. He waved his hand around and smiled a bit cockily.
" I think it was quite easy to see. When it comes to you, to Jeol, I can pretty much even guess what happened during your school years. Oh how difficult it must be, for socially unfit people. "
Here, once again he was trying to provoke him and Seneos knew it. But he wouldn't play this game....Simply because he knew he would lose instantly. Instead he just remained silent, and it seemed to somehow amuse Gumiho even more.
Was this man amused by absolutely everything ? Sen hid his face with one hand and continued to gaze out of the window, as a few words were whispered at the other end of the limousine, caught only by the driver.
" Oh yes...I am, indeed."
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